Obama Seeks Changes to "No Child"

(AP)  The Obama administration is committed to the school accountability at the heart of the No Child Left Behind law championed by former President George W. Bush but also wants to make changes, says Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Duncan credited the law for shining a spotlight on children who need the most help, according to a speech prepared for delivery Thursday. No Child Left Behind pushes schools to boost the performance of minority and poor children, who trail their white peers on standardized tests.

Duncan agreed with critics that standardized tests are not ideal measures of student achievement. Yet "they are the best we have at the moment," Duncan said.

"Until states develop better assessments," he said, "we must rely on standardized tests to monitor progress."

Duncan noted the administration is giving states money through the economic stimulus law to come up with better assessments.

He planned to make the speech in a meeting at the Education Department with leaders of more than 160 groups. Thursday's was the first in a series of meetings with the groups. In his remarks, he said the administration wants their input before making a formal proposal.

Whatever the administration decides to do, it needs the approval of Congress, which passed the law with bipartisan support in 2001 but deadlocked over a rewrite in 2007. Lawmakers plan to try again in 2010.

Duncan said kids can't afford more delays. After nearly half a century of direct federal involvement in schools, he said, "we are still waiting for the day when every child in America has a high-quality education that prepares him or her for the future.

"We're still waiting, and we can't wait any longer."

While the law has helped improve the academic performance of many minority students, English-language learners and children with disabilities, critics say the law is too punitive: More than a third of schools failed to meet yearly progress goals last year, according to Education Week, a trade publication.

Duncan: Obama Aims to Motivate Students
Watch Arne Duncan on "Face the Nation" on Schools and H1N1

That means millions of children are a long way from reaching the law's ambitious goals. The law pushes schools to improve test scores each year, so that every student can read and do math on grade level by the year 2014.

Opponents say that the law's annual reading and math tests have squeezed subjects like music and art out of the classroom and that schools were promised billions of dollars they never received.

[s57g67l]

@231rebel September 24, 2009 1:41 PM EDT
"Getting rewarded for getting close to the correct answer" is only half of it. On the other side of that math problem is the child who does get the correct answer but does NOT get credit because he/she does not put in writing each and every step taken to get to the answer.

[mossback1954]

Excuse me, but everyone seems to be blaming the schools. It is NOT the schools fault if a child, no matter what area of the city or country they live in, doesn't do well in school. It is not the teachers fault. The fault is on the parents.

We can pump millions of dollars into education and it still will not change the fact a child will not learn unless they were 'taught' the basics at home. This younger generation just plops their kids down in from of a TV with a DVD in or gives them video games and tell them to stay out of the way or they spend hours on end on a computer.

Whatever happened to books, fun projects making things, playing pretend with friends outside. Remember when a child would go outside in the morning and play all day? Ride bikes, play on swingsets, make pretend forts and climb trees? Boys were in Little League or Boy Scouts and Girls in Girl Scouts or played dolls with their friends? Even the idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! When parents read to their child, table manners, respect their elders, taught them how to tie their shoes or how to tell time? Play-Doh, Building Blocks, Lincoln Logs, Marbles? This new generation of children have no concept of what it means to use their imagination, ergo no reason to actually sit and learn.

[frankfurrter]

AMEN!!! Thank you! Parents need to grow up and teach their kids. This whole TV/Wii/Xbox/PS3 business is out of control. Kids need mental stimulation. Books, arts, crafts, imagination- all necessary to instill a love for learning. http://www.wordywormreading.com

[nbenn514]

"The law pushes schools to improve test scores each year, so that every student can read and do math on grade level by the year 2014."
This doesn't seem to be a lofty goal to me. Asking a child to do age appropriate work should not be that difficult OR cost billions of dollars. What the heck are they doing with all the money that "Johnny" can't read? It'll never happen but administrators need to start getting fired. Here in indiana, when the scores don't measure up, they send 50% of the teachers from that school to another one to show they've changed personnel. And, surprise, surprise, scores haven't changed. Too bad the government can't mandate parental involvement - that would probably nip the problem in the bud. But if the parents don't care - the kids won't either - and all the cajolling from the teachers in the world won't change that.

[stuart-johns]

"No Child Left Behind" har largely been a failure. Our schools have ended up teaching kids how to take a test rather than educating them.

[231rebel]

I agree the schools have failed, but they don't even have to pass the test to move forward. I am amazed at how our society has begun the idea that every child should think that "just getting by" is ok. I read about the math they were teaching that if they got close to the correct answer they are rewarded. Not only is that B/S, it is teaching our children that you don't have to try to succeed, just show up. It's also teaching them that as long as they can get the teachers and doctors to think they have a learning disability or depression or any other mental challenge, they can move up just by using this as a crutch. What happened to the days when you had to prove that you were doing the homework, learning the lessons and following the rules? There were children then that had learning disabilities and they had special tutoring and classes but they still had to do the work to move forward! Now we give them a free pass because we have them believing they are not responsible for their future! We are way too soft on today's youth.